This text is a commentary and an attempt to schematize the process through which Vincent creates his paintings.

Defining the object of a self-reflexive painting (or an apperceptive one, that is, a painting that reflects upon itself, both in its production and in its reception) is an arduous task. As its surface begins to render an investigation, the painting becomes an excavation site, a non-place (void) where image extraction can occur. Not of ideal form, but abraded skin: an accretionary process. The term accretion bears several definitions. On the one hand, it refers to an astrophysical phenomenon that transforms mechanical energy from an object-matter system into thermal energy and, consequently, into radiation (light) [1]. Generally, the term refers to the act of growing through accumulation, or to the process of growth or enlargement by gradual buildup [2].

For the purposes of this exercise, the term may be understood as a process that loosely mirrors how experience is…